Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other retailers know that algorithms and IT systems are only as good as the data that they can analyze. Wal-Mart is working with a standards-setting group that makes it easier for suppliers to send more and better product information to retailers.

Hundsun Technologies, a firm backed by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, said it isn’t accepting new accounts on a trading platform that has drawn scrutiny from regulators looking into China’s equity market turmoil.

An executive order signed by President Obama will require companies and subcontractors with government contracts to detail their workplace law violations—with the threat of losing those contracts and the right to bid for future ones should their government decide the number of infractions are too high.

Chinese electronic-commerce giant Alibaba and iPhone assembler Foxconn are in talks to jointly invest about $500 million in Snapdeal.com, a potential deal that could value the Indian startup at $5 billion.